The referendum was initially put forth by members of the Hoboken City Council following the 2017 election, in which Mayor Ravi Bhalla took office after defeating five other candidates, securing 32.75% of the vote. The measure would require a runoff between the top two vote-getters, should a candidate fail to obtain 50+% of the vote.

In December of 2017, in one of her last moves as Mayor of Hoboken, Dawn Zimmer rejected the Hoboken City Council’s 7-2 decision to put forth a referendum to restore runoff elections in municipal contests. Again, in January, Bhalla vetoed the ordinance less than a month into his administration, citing potential for voter fraud.